EARLY, Texas — An officer under fire in a tense trailer park standoff was saved when an armed Good Samaritan grabbed his pistol to help take out the suspect.
The incident began when Charles Ronald Conner shot and killed two neighbors and their dogs in an quickly-escalating argument over excrement found on his property, according to KENS 5.com. As Sgt. Steven Means of the Early Police Department arrived at the bloody scene, Conner hid behind a tree and fired at the officer from an assault rifle.
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Means took cover behind his police cruiser and returned fire using his own assault rifle, but neighbor Vic Stacy, 66, said that from inside his trailer, it appeared the officer might have difficulty getting a clear shot — so he leant a hand.
“I thought ‘he’s fixin’ to kill that boy,'” Stacy told the Brownwood Bulletin. “And that’s why I squared off and hit him in the leg and knocked him down.”
Police estimate Stacy was about 150 feet away when he fired his .357 magnum pistol, striking Conner four times. Investigators determined as Conner returned fire to Stacy, Means also hit Conner at least twice — and a combination of their bullets killed him.
Police praised Stacy for his outstanding shooting in the incident, which happened July 29, and willingness to step in to a dangerous confrontation.
“The citizen that fired these shots did a tremendous job out there,” Brown County Sheriff Bobby Grubbs said. “Had he not had a gun and the presence of mind to do this, we don’t know what the outcome would’ve been.”